'It really means everything'

Coaches, wrestlers talk about what Olympics mean to them and the sport

10:38 PM,
Sep. 8, 2013

Mike Doughty, from left, Dan Gable, and Iowa wrestling associate coach Terry Brands celebrate the International Olympic Committee's decision to keep wrestling in the 2020 and 2024 Olympics during a live stream Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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It helped University of Iowa wrestler and West High graduate Derek St. John become an NCAA champion, and it helped him cope with the uncertainty leading up to Sunday's announcement that wrestling had survived the Olympic cutting block.

St. John, much like he approaches his own matches, just couldn't bring himself to think that his beloved sport would lose the fight for Olympic survival to baseball, softball or squash. ...